The average person will burn 500-700 calories per hour rowing at the power of 100 watts. The average person will also burn 860-1150 calories per hour rowing at the power of 200 watts.
Calories Burned with Home Exercises (Weight: 175lbs)
| Exercise | MET | 15m | 30m | 45m | 60m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abs Exercises | 7.0 | 150 | 300 | 450 | 600 |
| Burpees | 8.0 | 171 | 343 | 514 | 686 |
| Jumping Rope | 8.8 | 189 | 377 | 566 | 754 |
| Squats | 5.5 | 118 | 236 | 354 | 472 |
| Jumping Jacks | 7.7 | 165 | 330 | 495 | 660 |
| Sit-Ups | 8.0 | 171 | 343 | 514 | 686 |
| Lunges | 4.0 | 86 | 171 | 257 | 343 |
| Kettlebells | 8.0 | 171 | 343 | 514 | 686 |
| Push-Ups | 3.8 | 81 | 163 | 244 | 326 |
| Rowing | 4.8 | 103 | 206 | 309 | 411 |
| Bridges | 3.0 | 64 | 129 | 193 | 257 |
| Deadlifting | 6.0 | 129 | 257 | 386 | 514 |
| Calisthenics - Vigorous | 8.0 | 171 | 343 | 514 | 686 |
How to Use Rowing Calculator
To calculate the number of calories burned rowing, you must input 2 values, then find the rowing activity you spent time doing. There you will find the calories you burned doing that activity. Here is how you do that step-by-step.
- Choose the desired unit of measurement – metric (kilograms) or imperial (pounds)
- Enter your weight
- Select the specific rowing activity
- Hit Calculate
You should now see the approximate number of calories that were burned while rowing.
How The Calculator Works
This calculator uses the MET formula to calculate approximate calories burned without factors like age, sex, muscle mass, or other external factors affecting calories expenditure.
MET
MET values are used in the MET formula and are values that rate the calorie expenditure of various activities.
A MET (metabolic equivalent) is the ratio between your active metabolic rate and your RMR (resting metabolic rate), which is also called your BMR (basal metabolic rate).
Your resting metabolic rate is the calories expended at rest when not actively digesting food. Your active metabolic rate is the calories burned while doing things throughout the day. So, essentially it is the calories burned equal to your resting metabolic rate, and the calories burned throughout the day added together.
A task with a MET value of one burns the calories equal to your resting metabolic rate. A task with a MET value of 6 burns 6 times as many calories as a task with a MET of one, or 6 times your resting metabolic rate.
The MET formula also uses the amount of oxygen used by your muscles per minute per kilogram of body weight, which is 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of bodyweight.
You can calculate this amount yourself by multiplying your body weight in kilograms by 3.5.
Formula
Total Calories burned in 1 minute = (3.5 x MET x body weight in kg)/200
Examples
Someone weighing 140 pounds will burn calories up to 300 calories at a moderate pace, and up to 800 calories rowing vigorously.
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 3.5) / 200
The formula to calculate calories burned per minute rowing with vigorous effort for a 140-pound person looks like this.
- 63.5029kg x 6 x 3.5) / 200 = 6.6678045 calories burned per minute of rowing
To calculate the number of calories burned per hour rowing, you multiply the calories burned per minute by 60 (minutes)
- Calories per hour burned = 6.6678045 x 60
401 calories will be burned per hour rowing.
Results
A 140-pound person will burn 401 calories per hour rowing with vigorous effort. A 140-pound person will also burn 6.7 calories per minute rowing vigorously.
What is Rowing?
Rowing is a sport that consists of racing boats using oars. It is not a paddling sport but is similar since it uses manual movement, but it is different because rowing oars are attached to the boat while paddles are not connected to the boat.
Rowing is divided into two disciplines. These are sculling and sweep rowing. One discipline uses one oar with both hands, and the other discipline uses both oars with both hands.
Races are usually conducted on calm watermarked with buoys. These courses are 1.2 miles long and have several lanes for the boats to go through throughout the race.
It is one of the oldest Olympic sports and has been in the Olympics for more than 100 years. Many countries hold competitions for rowing, and it is a popular sport outside of the U.S.
Rowing can also be done with a rowing machine. A rowing machine is stationary and can be used indoors, outdoors, in the gym, or in your home. It is easy to use and also allows you to row no matter what weather or climate.
Equipment
Racing Boats
Racing boats are called shells, are long, and narrow, made specifically to reduce drag in the water. Shells are most often made from composite material. The materials of shells can vary, so a weight limit for each class is made to give no team a great advantage from expensive materials or technology used in modern shells.
Smaller boats called sculling boats are steered by the scullers pulling on one side of the boat harder. Larger boats often have a rudder that is controlled by a coxswain, which is the steersmen of the boat, and the coxswain uses a cable attached to one of the shoes to steer.
Oar
Oars are used to propel boats and are sometimes called blades. They are long and flat, made of synthetic material nowadays, commonly carbon fiber.
An oar is referred to as a blade when used for sweep-oar rowing, and as a scull when used for sculling. A sculling oar will be shorter and have a smaller blade area than a sweep oar.
These oars are painted with the colors of the club they belong to. This helps with identifying boats from a distance, along with the logos being printed on the jersey of the players.
Indoor Rowing
Indoor rowing consists of using a rowing machine to simulate rowing a boat in the comfort of your home, gym, or even outdoors.
A rowing machine is capable of changing the exercise intensity of rowing very easily and can burn more calories than outdoor rowing. Rowing machines usually need 9 feet by four feet of room to fit in, so they are relatively compact, but need room to move the arms and rock the body.
Using an indoor rowing machine use rhythmic body movement just like water rowing, and use very similar movement like outdoor water rowing.
How to Row
To row, you must use your arms and legs in unison. You start off with arms straight while holding onto the oar. The oar should be in front of your body and you should have a straight back and bent legs.
Once you kick off with your legs, you should pull the oar towards your chest at the same time. Use your upper back to pull the oar towards you, and engage your core. Once you do this go back to the starting position then repeat until you are done.
This is how you use rowing machines and complete a rowing workout. Multiple muscle groups are used, so once you finish you should prioritize rest and recovery as rowing would be a taxing form of cardio.
Related: Best Rowing Exercises To Build Muscle Mass
How to Burn More Calories Rowing
It is easy to burn more calories while rowing. To burn more calories while rowing, you can increase the resistance of the rowing machine. You can also simply row faster and increase the power or wattage that you row at.
If you usually row at a medium pace, you can increase the calorie burn rate and row faster. Increasing the stroke rate at all will result in more calories being burned.
You can increase this even more by doing HIIT workouts. HIIT workouts are high-intensity interval training workouts that consist of short bouts of intense work, and long rests, repeated. This is very tiring but great at burning calories.
High-intensity interval training can easily help you lose weight, in addition to rowing you can get great results. This is only true if you are in a caloric deficit and get proper rest and recovery.
Does Rowing Burn a Lot of Calories?
The calories burned rowing will be high because it used a lot of muscles and a lot of energy to row. Rowing uses the entire upper body to propel the boat and race others.
The abdominals and core are also used to a great degree while rowing.
Rowing is a great physical activity to burn calories because it can easily be scaled to burn more or less calories and put in more or less effort.
If you are rowing on the water, you can use heavier oars, or simply row faster to burn more calories and use more muscles.
If you are rowing on a machine you can increase the power. This increases the amount of effort needed to use the machine, or less if you choose to decrease the power and work out at a moderate pace instead of rowing vigorously.
This makes it easy to progress easily and choose if you want to make it easier or harder. This is the benefit of an indoor rowing machine. An indoor rowing machine has the capability to easily increase resistance.
Rowing burns a tremendous number of calories without vigorous effort. This shows that rowing is a great fat-burning exercise and would be very beneficial for people looking to lose weight.
Does Rowing Build Muscle?
Rowing is also great at building muscle when paired with a healthy diet and exercise routine. This is great because building muscle permanently increases your metabolism, and raises metabolic rates, burning calories when you aren’t active.
Building muscle allows you to continue burning calories long after exercise for even longer. Cardio creates an afterburning effect. This means that you will continue to burn fat and burn calories for a while after exercise is done, but building muscle creates this same effect permanently as long as you exercise regularly.
Because rowing is great resistance training, it is also great for muscle conditioning and toning the entire body since it is a full-body workout.
Is Rowing Good for Weight Loss?
Rowing is great for weight loss, and indoor rowing is even greater since you can choose if you want to burn more calories or fewer calories easily with increased of decreased resistance.
Moderate rowing can burn 500 calories in general per hour. If you ate enough calories to maintain your weight and did moderate rowing an hour a day, you can burn 2 pounds of fat a week and for good. This brings into account your calorie intake remaining consistent, and that you train consistently daily with the same routine and same workout duration.
How to Get The Most Out of Rowing
This is how you can maximize your efforts and get the most out of your rowing workouts. While doing your rowing workouts, you must have a proper diet. This means you must know how many calories you are eating daily, and how many calories you are burning daily. You can use a calorie calculator and tracker for this.
Once you have your diet situated and are eating much fewer calories to be in a deficit, you would be losing weight already if you are rowing steadily. To improve upon this, proper rest and recovery must be prioritized. This is as simple as sleeping 8-9 hours a day and eating a proper diet.
Once diet, rest, and recovery are locked in, you can work on rowing more intensely. This will burn more calories and put you into the fat-burning zone quicker and for longer. Using a rowing machine would make this easier, but whether you choose to row outdoors or indoors, you can get the same results as long as you put in your maximum effort into your training.
To put in your maximum effort you need to have a rowing routine. Have a specific place where you can do vigorous exercise without distraction, and where you can either do your indoor rowing machine workout or your outdoor rowing workout.
For the entire duration of the workout, focus on the motion and first row at a much slower pace to warm up and get the blood flowing. Once you are warmed up, you want to row at a medium pace, slowly to a pace where you are rowing vigorously, and do this for as long as you can comfortably.
Repeat this until you are either finished with the distance or feel you have done a strenuous workout.
Conclusion
You can calculate the calories burned rowing and be more accountable for your fitness by using this calculator. Rowing is a great exercise with weight loss and can burn 300 all the way to 800 calories or more at a competitive level. To get the most out of your rowing exercises, you should eat a proper diet, and train consistently while prioritizing resting and recovery.
References:
- What is rowing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowing_(sport)
- Jetté, M.; Sidney, K.; Blümchen, G. (1990-08). Metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical Cardiology. 13 (8): 555–565. doi:10.1002/clc.4960130809.
- Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, Meckes N, Bassett Jr DR, Tudor-Locke C, Greer JL, Vezina J, Whitt-Glover MC, Leon AS. The Compendium of Physical Activities Tracking Guide. Healthy Lifestyles Research Center, College of Nursing & Health Innovation, Arizona State University.
- Recommendations on physical activity for health from the Harvard School of Public Health and WHO global recommendations on physical activity for health (updated): https://www.who.int
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